A Stegosaurus Skeleton Is Going Public as Dinosaur Fossils Increasingly Become Investments

The newest hot public offering isn’t a fintech or A.I. company, but a partially buried stegosaurus skeleton nicknamed “BCQ 24” that measures around 23 feet long. Rally, a fractional investment platform, is gearing up to offer investors 200,000 shares at $68.75 apiece to own a portion of the rare dinosaur fossil. This isn’t the first time unusual assets have gone public—artwork, collectibles and even the childhood home of Mickey Mantle have received the fractional ownership treatment in recent years. The upcoming stegosaurus offering, however, speaks to unprecedented growth within the lucrative market of dinosaur bones, according to Rally co-founder Rob Petrozzo.

“As we’ve seen the privatization of some of these dinosaurs be way more publicized, people are realizing they can own them as a collectible,” Petrozzo, who also serves as the company’s chief product officer, told Observer. “Even though something like this is 150 million or 160 million years old, it’s as relevant now as it’s ever been.”

In July, the billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin set the record for the most expensive dinosaur sale when he snapped up a stegosaurus named “Apex” for a staggering $44.6 million at Sotheby’s. The Citadel chief’s acquisition eclipsed a previous record held by “Stan” the T-Rex, which was auctioned off for $31.8 million by Christie’s in 2020. In the past few years, eight separate dinosaur fossils have publicly sold for more than $6 million, according to Rally, which noted that buyers in the Middle East and Asia have shown a particular interest in the emerging sector.

Rally became aware of “BCQ 24” earlier this year when Thomas Lindgren, a fossil expert who has previously worked with Rally and institutions like New York’s American Museum of Natural History called up the platform after finding evidence of the stegosaurus in Wyoming’s Bone Cabin Quarry. Even though less than half of the skeleton’s bones had been unearthed at that time, Rally decided to take a risk.

“We had the opportunity to basically get a first look, to make a down payment, to negotiate a price for the total skeleton; no matter what the outcome was going to be in terms of what total bone they found,” said Petrozzo. Around 69 percent of the dinosaur’s total bones have since been recovered. Petrozzo predicted “a real chance” that 80 percent or more could eventually be found as the rest of its skeleton is excavated.

What’s in it for investors?

After offering shares in the dinosaur on Dec. 20 via its website and app, Rally is hoping to find a buyer for the fossil in the next 18 to 24 months via either an auction or private sale. An eventual sale of its stegosaurus could rival the eight-figure sum paid by Griffin earlier this year. While Rally’s fossil is smaller than Apex, the quality of its bones match or exceed those of Griffin’s specimen, said Petrozzo. “There’s a chance you could see a real bidding war.”

In the meantime, investors will receive updates on the excavation—scheduled for completion by next June—that will range from photos and videos to a bone map showcasing newly discovered pieces. Shareholders will also vote on a new name to replace “BCQ 24,” said Petrozzo, who said its current moniker stems from its excavation site and the year its major pieces were unearthed.

The surging price tags associated with rare dinosaurs have raised alarms among some paleontologists in museums and universities, who worry that heightened demand in private ownership has priced academia out of major fossil acquisitions. In some cases, buyers have displayed their Jurassic treasures to the public—Griffin’s stegosaurus, for example, is currently on loan at the American Museum of Natural History. “Even when billionaires are buying up a lot of these pieces, they’re the ones that are going to hopefully be putting them back in museums,” said Petrozzo.

Rally’s stegosaurus will be the first time the company, which has previously sold shares in fossils like a triceratops skull, will offer up investments in a full dinosaur skeleton. Having experimented with assets ranging from baseball cards to rare cars, the firm is also looking to eventually expand into “intangible assets,” according to Petrozzo, who has his eye on fractionalized sports team ownership. “That’s something we’re going to focus on for 2025,” he said.